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Malek, asleep in bed with her two young children, was forced at gunpoint to her bedroom floor as Parr and his brother, Michael Wayne Jimenez, then 16, ransacked the home looking for valuables. Malek was then raped and shot twice in the head. Her children were on the floor beside her.

Testimony at Parr's trial suggested the men also intended to shoot Malek's children, then 6 and 8 years old, but the gun jammed. After the intruders left the home, the children telephoned their grandmother for help.

Parr was the 20th inmate to be executed in Texas this year and the first of five inmates scheduled for execution here this month.

Life sentence

Jimenez, 26, is serving a life sentence at a prison in Fort Bend County. Jimenez was not eligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile at the time of the crime.

In a highly unusual move, Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials declined to let Parr be interviewed by the media because he had made repeated threats to rape female prison employees before his death. Prison officials said it was only the second time they could recall prohibiting such interviews on death row.

Despite those concerns and despite his lengthy disciplinary history at TDCJ, which included an incident where he attacked a female officer and threw her down a flight of stairs — Parr remained peaceful throughout the day Wednesday.

Malek's mother, Sgt. Charlotte Brown, an investigator with the Matagorda County Sheriff's Office, turned away from the observation window minutes after Parr became still. "I don't want to look at him anymore," she whispered to prison staff, who stood by to console her.

He always denied guilt

Brown joined hands with her sister,
Connie Stavinoha
of Houston, and with Malek's father, Mike Malek of Boling. Standing with them to watch the execution were Matagorda County District Attorney
Steven Reis
and Matagorda County Sheriff
James Mitchell
.

Parr's family, including his mother, Mary Colonge of Bay City, became emotional after doctors pronounced him dead and covered his body with a sheet.

Some of his relatives banged on the observation glass with their hands, a witness said. Parr's brother, Joe Williams, fell to his knees.

Parr always denied killing Malek, but tests could not rule him out as the source of the DNA found on her body as a result of the sexual assault. Items stolen from Malek's home also were found hidden in his girlfriend's apartment, and Parr's mother testified that he admitted shooting someone in a conversation with her.

The deadly attack shocked the town of Bay City, a city of 18,000 people located in a heavily agricultural area.

A Brazoria County jury sentenced Parr to death in 1999 after his trial was moved there due to publicity.

Malek's family declined to speak with the media after the execution, but Brown previously said she did not expect Parr's death to bring them any closure because it did not change what happened to her daughter.

Malek's children have thrived despite the horror they witnessed, family members said. Her daughter, Ashley Thompson, who testified against both men as a 10-year-old girl, is now 18 and is about to start college. Malek's son is a 16-year-old high school student living in the Cypress area with his father.